https://telkenlost.com/Board/ Thu, 23 Apr 2026 09:56:48 +0000 MyBB https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=19 Sat, 11 Apr 2020 15:34:48 -0600 tortoise]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=19 1000 Skeletons - A Metaphor
Let’s say you run a game in which the players contribute proactively to their goals as much as you do, and you allow your players to go off in any direction they choose. How do you deal with a situation in which a necromancer player wants to spend a year in a cabin creating a skeleton army? You could make it clear to the player that such an activity will have consequences, then adjust the story to respond to this necromancer’s waxing horde. The exact consequences are story based and come from the world you are building. Perhaps a hero group comes armed with potent magic. Maybe a more powerful necromancer feels threatened and begins to investigate. Perhaps the day to day overuse of primal force energy takes a toll on the necromancer and starts to change them. Personally, I like the 1000 skeletons. However you choose to deal with it, there should be story consequences for such an investment in time. Even after the deed is done, your necromancer player isn’t going to be able to simply “go into town for a bed and a shower” anymore. Simple acts like moving between towns becomes a new story point. I imagine most worlds would notice the skeletons and have something to say about it.

Or, you could be more heavy-handed as the GM and squash the event early. Maybe you tell the player that’s fine, go roll up a new character to play the current story while your old character spends a year making an undead army. It would only be fair to be sure the player is made aware of such consequences before they take the action.

The heavy hand might be something you need to employ, but if you trust your players and they trust you, you might want to avoid this. Your player is going to take the story you thought you were going to share in a new direction, that’s for sure. But a story guided by player actions is quite fun! Personally, I love skeletons.

What would you do?]]> 1000 Skeletons - A Metaphor
Let’s say you run a game in which the players contribute proactively to their goals as much as you do, and you allow your players to go off in any direction they choose. How do you deal with a situation in which a necromancer player wants to spend a year in a cabin creating a skeleton army? You could make it clear to the player that such an activity will have consequences, then adjust the story to respond to this necromancer’s waxing horde. The exact consequences are story based and come from the world you are building. Perhaps a hero group comes armed with potent magic. Maybe a more powerful necromancer feels threatened and begins to investigate. Perhaps the day to day overuse of primal force energy takes a toll on the necromancer and starts to change them. Personally, I like the 1000 skeletons. However you choose to deal with it, there should be story consequences for such an investment in time. Even after the deed is done, your necromancer player isn’t going to be able to simply “go into town for a bed and a shower” anymore. Simple acts like moving between towns becomes a new story point. I imagine most worlds would notice the skeletons and have something to say about it.

Or, you could be more heavy-handed as the GM and squash the event early. Maybe you tell the player that’s fine, go roll up a new character to play the current story while your old character spends a year making an undead army. It would only be fair to be sure the player is made aware of such consequences before they take the action.

The heavy hand might be something you need to employ, but if you trust your players and they trust you, you might want to avoid this. Your player is going to take the story you thought you were going to share in a new direction, that’s for sure. But a story guided by player actions is quite fun! Personally, I love skeletons.

What would you do?]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=18 Tue, 07 Apr 2020 13:48:24 -0600 tortoise]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=18
There are some hard and fast rules for building hands. Hands are actions. Cards are used to build hands. Any hand with a power in it requires at least one control. And you may use multiple powers in one hand with one control or multiple controls. The next rule is that all modifiers require a control. Controls are the energy of the universe, so imagine a plasma laser cannon that strikes with an explosion (attack power, plasma control, range modifier, area of effect modifier). That is a “technological” way of explaining a power. The same thing can be accomplished with a fireball (attack power, fire control, ranged mod, aoe mod) or a plasma-ball, if you wish. That is a “magical” way of explaining a power. The end result is that they are both uses of the energy of the universe. Both are perfectly acceptable in Telken Lost. And you may call it anything you like (magic, tech, deity, etc.). I’m sure the list of options is long. That is why modifiers require controls.

The next rule is a skill may use a control if desired. This would make that skill “magical” because it’s using the energy of the universe. That’s how we built the system. A skill and a power may be played in the same hand if it they make sense together (eg picking locks using telekinesis). And what about modifiers with skills? If a skill uses a modifier, it must also have a control, because all modifiers require a control. Imagine ranged lockpicking without telekinesis; it could be done with a range mod, therefore requiring a control because it must be “magical” or “technological” or X. We want you to use cards in combinations – it’s one of the best things about the system. There are thousands times thousands of combinations, but your combinations need to make sense – but in a world of science fantasy … perhaps anything goes.]]>
There are some hard and fast rules for building hands. Hands are actions. Cards are used to build hands. Any hand with a power in it requires at least one control. And you may use multiple powers in one hand with one control or multiple controls. The next rule is that all modifiers require a control. Controls are the energy of the universe, so imagine a plasma laser cannon that strikes with an explosion (attack power, plasma control, range modifier, area of effect modifier). That is a “technological” way of explaining a power. The same thing can be accomplished with a fireball (attack power, fire control, ranged mod, aoe mod) or a plasma-ball, if you wish. That is a “magical” way of explaining a power. The end result is that they are both uses of the energy of the universe. Both are perfectly acceptable in Telken Lost. And you may call it anything you like (magic, tech, deity, etc.). I’m sure the list of options is long. That is why modifiers require controls.

The next rule is a skill may use a control if desired. This would make that skill “magical” because it’s using the energy of the universe. That’s how we built the system. A skill and a power may be played in the same hand if it they make sense together (eg picking locks using telekinesis). And what about modifiers with skills? If a skill uses a modifier, it must also have a control, because all modifiers require a control. Imagine ranged lockpicking without telekinesis; it could be done with a range mod, therefore requiring a control because it must be “magical” or “technological” or X. We want you to use cards in combinations – it’s one of the best things about the system. There are thousands times thousands of combinations, but your combinations need to make sense – but in a world of science fantasy … perhaps anything goes.]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=17 Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:24:55 -0600 tortoise]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=17
Metagaming could also mean that a player tries to ignore what they know, which is impossible, though that's what acting is all about. I've seen folks simulate such things with excellent quality, but I don’t hold players to the position of ‘your character only knows what they know’. They are free to play the game this way or not, but we shut down OOG debates about it right away. Those discussions are a waste of fun IMHO - whichever way you slice it.]]>
Metagaming could also mean that a player tries to ignore what they know, which is impossible, though that's what acting is all about. I've seen folks simulate such things with excellent quality, but I don’t hold players to the position of ‘your character only knows what they know’. They are free to play the game this way or not, but we shut down OOG debates about it right away. Those discussions are a waste of fun IMHO - whichever way you slice it.]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=16 Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:19:44 -0600 tortoise]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=16
If I find that my path leads to a character death or something else detrimental to the party, then so be it. For me, that's the essence of the fun of role-playing. And there is another school of thought - when you set out to beat the storyteller … well … that’s when your persona is set aside in some ways, and the game becomes something a bit different. That’s more of a “beat the GM” flavor. Many enjoy that sort of game. Go get some!]]>
If I find that my path leads to a character death or something else detrimental to the party, then so be it. For me, that's the essence of the fun of role-playing. And there is another school of thought - when you set out to beat the storyteller … well … that’s when your persona is set aside in some ways, and the game becomes something a bit different. That’s more of a “beat the GM” flavor. Many enjoy that sort of game. Go get some!]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=15 Thu, 26 Mar 2020 18:15:26 -0600 tortoise]]> https://telkenlost.com/Board/showthread.php?tid=15 active listening. Active listening is the quest to seek total understanding without forming your own opinions or ideas, and doing all that while another person is stating their actions or proposing ideas. Active listening is a rare skill. When it is present, remarkable communication happens. I relish the experience. 

And hand-in-hand with that, the GM has a hard job. All the great ones I’ve played with sweat the small stuff, meaning they prepare extensively. One of the beautiful aspects of developing a story together is that the players often take a path far different than the potential paths the GM has had the foresight to develop ahead of time. It is difficult for the GM to predict your actions with certainty unless you’re participating in a linear story line. Humans love to improvise when no limitations are placed upon them.]]> active listening. Active listening is the quest to seek total understanding without forming your own opinions or ideas, and doing all that while another person is stating their actions or proposing ideas. Active listening is a rare skill. When it is present, remarkable communication happens. I relish the experience. 

And hand-in-hand with that, the GM has a hard job. All the great ones I’ve played with sweat the small stuff, meaning they prepare extensively. One of the beautiful aspects of developing a story together is that the players often take a path far different than the potential paths the GM has had the foresight to develop ahead of time. It is difficult for the GM to predict your actions with certainty unless you’re participating in a linear story line. Humans love to improvise when no limitations are placed upon them.]]>